Monday, December 28, 2015

Wanna Escape?

What a whirlwind couple of weeks we've had!  Our out-of-town children arrived, then Christmas came. Fortunately the company stayed around a little longer after the holiday.  However, all good things have to come to an end.  Son Brian and DIL Nicole left mid-afternoon today for a trip to Columbia to see college friends (they'll come back and stay here Saturday, then fly home early Sunday morning).  Tonight I took Son Tony to the airport for his flight.  Now it's down to just me, Hubby Tony, Son Donald, and the cats in the house.

While everyone was here, time passed quickly.  Every day was filled with eating, talking, more eating, shopping, seeing a movie, playing games, watching TV, and more eating.  We had planned one big family activity--an escape room challenge, which was new to all of us.  If you're not familiar with escape rooms, Wikipedia describes them this way:
Real-life room escape games are a type of physical adventure game in which people are locked in a room with other participants and have to use elements of the room to solve a series of puzzles, find clues, and escape the room within a set time limit.
The facility we went to, Escape from St. Louis, offered two different room scenarios. We chose one called A Ghost Story, where we had to figure out who murdered a teenager twenty-five years ago.

When we arrived at the facility  we were escorted to the door of our room.  After some short directions our team got a walkie-talkie (to communicate with the front desk or ask for clues, which would add to our final time), flashlights, and a dry erase marker to write on a laminated board in he room.  The door opened, we stepped in, and our hour of puzzle-solving started.

The adventure was a lot of fun, and I'm proud to say that we succeeded in escaping from the room before the time expired.  We asked for two clues, which added ten minutes to our final time of 62 minutes and 30 seconds.

Five years ago today: Cold Winter Coming (I'm Concerned About You)

12 comments:

  1. You have to be proud not many escape from these rooms, smart family! Sounds like you had a perfect Christmas!

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    1. My logically-thinking kids figured out the way to get us out of the room and saved the day.

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  2. Our son-in-law did this in San Francisco. I think the last time they looked, his group held the record for escape time. I would probably still be sitting in the room, crying.

    The days do fly by when you have guests and so much activity. Our kids arrived Sunday night. We are in a whirlwind around here.

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    1. As of Sunday our group was on the leaderboard, but I don't know how long that distinction will last. I hope you're enjoying your whirlwind as much as I enjoyed mine.

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  3. Awesome game, I love the idea! Sounds like a fantastic way to spend your holidays! Wishing you a blessed and Happy New Year Kathy! Cheers.

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    1. It WAS a nice way to spend some 'family time' together.

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  4. Did the room have a bed? I would have taken a nap, away from cats and everyone else, I fear. Glad you had a nice holiday. I've heard of those escape room businesses. There may be one in this state, up in Portland. (maybe)

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    1. We were a pretty noisy group-I don't think you would have been able to fall asleep :-)

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  5. Wow, sounds like you had a killer time. Fun family stuff. Cool beans. Happy 2016.

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    1. Now that we're all spread out we don't get to do as much family stuff as I'd like. It's awesome when it happens.

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  6. I've seen these kinds of rooms on tv and in movies, but I didn't realize they were an actual "thing" to try for run.

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    1. Yep, and you should try it if you get a chance.

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